Fig leaf milk veil

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This wonderfully ethereal dessert captures the light like a stained glass window – and it tastes as good as it looks. Strawberries, flowers and herbs are sandwiched between sheets of filo pastry, before being cooked and then submerged in fig leaf-infused milk. The strawberry punch served alongside cuts through the lactic richness of the dish perfectly.

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First published in 2020

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Fig leaf milk

  • 2kg whole milk
  • 200g of caster sugar
  • 20g of fig leaves
  • 1 dash of fig leaf olive oil
  • 1 pinch of xanthan gum

Strawberry juice

Vanilla chantilly

  • 395g of whipping cream
  • 80g of mascarpone
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 10g of gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
  • 1/2 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped

Vanilla caramel

  • 150g of whipping cream
  • 37g of whole milk
  • 117g of liquid glucose
  • 75g of caster sugar
  • 53g of unsalted butter, cold and diced
  • 0.75g of fine salt, (1 very small pinch)
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped

Filo wafers

Equipment

  • Hand blender
  • Piping bags
  • Sugar thermometer

Method

1
The day before you plan to serve the dish, prepare the strawberry juice, vanilla caramel and vanilla Chantilly. For the juice, bring the water to the boil and add the sugar. Once dissolved, remove from the heat then add the lemongrass and vanilla. Allow to cool slightly, then whisk the lemon juice and strawberry purée. Cover and leave to infuse in the fridge overnight
2
For the vanilla Chantilly, pour 80g of the whipping cream into a pan with the sugar and vanilla and bring to 90°C. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 15 minutes
  • 80g of whipping cream
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
3
Whisk in the softened gelatine and mascarpone, then add the remaining whipping cream and blend with a stick blender to homogenise. Pass through a fine sieve, transfer to a piping bag and reserve in the fridge until needed. You will have some Chantilly leftover, but it will keep for up to 5 days
  • 10g of gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
  • 80g of mascarpone
  • 315g of whipping cream
4
For the vanilla caramel, pour the whipping cream, milk, 41g of the glucose and the vanilla seeds into a saucepan. Gently toast the scraped vanilla pod in a dry frying pan until fragrant, then add this to the pan as well. Gently bring to the boil
  • 150g of whipping cream
  • 37g of whole milk
  • 41g of liquid glucose
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
5
Meanwhile, cook the caster sugar and remaining glucose in a separate pan until it reacher 185°C and forms a caramel. Carefully pour in the hot cream mixture to deglaze, stirring well, then heat until it reaches 105°C. Strain into a large container and leave to cool to 70°C
  • 75g of caster sugar
  • 76g of liquid glucose
6
Use a stick blender to blitz in the diced butter and add the salt. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside in the fridge until needed. You will have some caramel leftover, but it keeps for up to 1 week
7
The next day, being making the filo wafers. Take a sheet of filo pastry and brush it with rapeseed oil. Arrange slices of strawberries over the top, then arrange the flowers, basil leaves and fennel around them. Top with another sheet of filo to create a sandwich, brushing liberally with more rapeseed oil, then transfer to a large baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the filo sheets until you have 8 wafers
8
Preheat a steam oven to 100°C or a normal oven to 130°C with a tray of boiling water on the bottom shelf. Place the wafers in the oven and steam for 30 minutes
9
After this time, transfer the wafers to a conventional oven (or remove the tray of water) and change the temperature to 120°C. Cook for another 20-30 minutes until the wafers have become slightly crisp
10
While the filo wafers cook, prepare the fig leaf milk. Bring the milk to just under a boil, then whisk in the sugar and fig leaves. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve into a shallow, wide container
  • 2kg whole milk
  • 200g of caster sugar
  • 20g of fig leaves
11
Once the filo wafers have cooked, submerge them in the fig leaf milk and leave to soak for 3 minutes. Place on a wire rack to drain, then trim the edges of the veils to neaten if desired
12
You now have all the elements needed to plate the dish. Pass the chilled strawberry juice through a fine sieve into serving glasses and pour some of the leftover fig leaf milk into a jug and mix in a little xanthan gum, which will thicken it slightly. Add a drizzle of the fig leaf oil to split the milk
  • 1 dash of fig leaf olive oil
  • 1 pinch of xanthan gum
13
Pipe some of the vanilla caramel onto each plate, then top with some of the vanilla Chantilly. Drape the filo veils over the Chantilly, then pour over the split fig leaf milk at the table. Serve with the strawberry juice alongside
First published in 2020

After quietly honing his craft in some of the world’s best kitchens, Ollie Dabbous exploded onto the London food scene with his eponymous restaurant in 2012. Today, he’s at the helm of Hide – one of the most ambitious culinary projects the city has ever seen – showcasing his iconic ingredient-led cooking in stunning surroundings.

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